


Stay With Me

by RittaPokie



Category: Marvel
Genre: Roommates, Touch starved!Wade Wilson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-17 19:53:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14838137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RittaPokie/pseuds/RittaPokie
Summary: Listen, I wrote really far ahead on IBT and the dates for uploads are set, but I'm bored out of my mind right now. So, I'm just....writing...havin' fun with it. Anyway, my general go-to is Wade moving in w/ Peter, but let's try something different on for size, yeah? Growing as a writer is all about pushing your own boundaries, imo. You've heard of treat yourself, now introducing: test yourself. Ok not introducing bc it's not new. Anyway:Peter Parker is evicted from his apartment and gets a generous offer from none other than Wade Wilson.Will be updated as I write it with no clear schedule.





	1. Concrete Ain't Comfortable

After their many, many hijink-filled adventures together, Deadpool doesn’t really set off Spider-Man’s spidey sense anymore. That bothers him a little, because he misses knowing when the mercenary is sneaking up on him. Deadpool adores it. His Spidey feels so at ease and comfortable with him that he doesn’t get antsy when he approaches anymore! That was a big win for him.

“Hey, baby boy!” He says, sitting down next to the spider on some random rooftop in the city. He doesn’t always find Spider-Man when he’s looking for him, but when he does, it’s on a roof. “Whatcha got there?” Deadpool tugs the newspaper out of the other’s hands.

“Apartment listings.” the spider admits. What’s the point in lying? He can’t imagine Deadpool having never been evicted, so he isn’t embarrassed.

“Looking to upgrade?” The merc asks. “Yeesh, if these you circled are upgrades, what kind of dump were you living in?”

“I got evicted.” He says. “I called in a few too many times at my day job to do this.” He waves his arms, gesturing to the city and his suit.

“Oh.” The merc says quietly. “Why didn’t you say something? I coulda paid your rent.”

“I know where your money comes from.” Spidey says. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“You know it’s not all killing, right?” Deadpool asks. “That’s why I call myself a mercenary and not an assassin. Okay, a lot of it is killing...but not all!”

“Enough of it is.” Spidey says. “Besides, it’s too late now. I’m already out of my apartment.”

“And you haven’t found a new place? Where are you staying?” Deadpool asks.

Now he feels a little embarrassed. Spidey glances back under an overhanging awning on the roof to a sleeping bag. He didn’t really have much to move out of the apartment. “Uh, well…” he says.

Deadpool stares at his little space for a long while and sighs like he’s in pain. “Baby boy, no!” He turns back to the spider, and even with his mask on, he is always so emotionally animated. “You can’t live like that! Come stay with me. You could sleep on the couch, or I could? I’ll even keep my hands to myself...scout’s honor!”

{scouts don’t have honor}  
[at least not the ones we’ve dealt with]

It’s not that he couldn’t go stay with his aunt, he could; he just doesn’t want to upset her. He doesn’t want her to know that he has been sleeping on a roof. It has rained a few times. No, no...it’s far too late to involve her in this. “How much is your rent?” He asks.

“Huh?” Deadpool falters, and suddenly he looks very shy. “I- are you actually considering… Wow, you are desperate.”

“Don’t push it.” Spider-Man says. “I’m thinking of all the problems with that proposition. First, I don’t know if I can afford half your rent. Second, there’d have to be an identity reveal and I’m not sure I want you knowing who I am. Third, how many weapons do you have at your place?”

[many]  
{so, so many}  
[knives]  
{guns}  
[and bombs]  
{oh my!}  
[shut up]

“Uh, I can clean up so they aren’t just...around.” he says. “You don’t have to pay half the rent, baby boy. I got it. I know this would be a temporary thing, I know you don’t wanna live with me long term. Just ‘til you get back on your feet.”

“So, that leaves one problem.” Spider-Man says. “We’ll get back to the fact that I don’t live for free. I don’t want to owe you anything.”

{well, where’s the fun in that?}

“You don’t owe me anything…” Deadpool says quietly, but he doesn’t press it further. He can understand that feeling. Obligation to him wouldn’t be a great thing to feel on a good day, let alone when you have no other good options. “I mean, that’s up to you. I don’t really keep my identity a secret.”

“I’ve never seen you without the mask.” Spider-Man says. “It’s a secret as far as I’m concerned.”

Wade chuckles. “Well, I’m Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, aka the Merc With A Mouth.”

“Shocking, that that’s your nickname.” Spidey says, his voice completely and totally un-shocked. He’s silent for a moment, and then takes a deep breath. “Okay. Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man.” He says, holding out his hand for Wade to shake.

{ooooh! he’s really gonna do it}  
[mistake]

Wade shakes his hand. “I guess that just leaves the masks.” He says. “You’ve heard about me, I assume.”

“I’ve heard a lot of things.” Peter admits. “None of them nice.”

[unsurprising]  
{what nice things can be said about us?}

“At least you’ll be prepared, then.” Wade says. “It’ll be kinda hard to live with me if you can’t even look at me.”

[no one can look at us]  
{we can’t even look at ourselves}

“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” Peter says, and he’s about to give more assurances that he has seen much worse than whatever Wade can show him, but those are all cut short when Wade takes the Deadpool mask off. After that, Peter doesn’t say anything. He just stares.

“Ta da?” Wade says nervously.

[do you still want to live with us, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man?]  
{put that mask back where it came from or so help me}

“I- um…” Peter stammers. “Wow.” He settles on that, finally. It may not be the best thing he could’ve said, but it is what he said.

“I get it if you don’t wanna look at this day in and day out, but I don’t want you to be homeless so… I can stay gone for a little while, I’ll still pay the bills. There’s places I can go.” Wade says, babbling, looking down at his feet. “That’s probably for the best anyway.”

“You’re doing a really bad job of selling yourself as a flat-mate.” Peter says. “Are you sure you’re into this?”

“Yes!” Wade shouts, turning to look at Peter again. “Of course I’m into it, I couldn’t get more into it if I tried!”

“Alright, alright.” Peter says. He hooks his fingers under his own mask and pulls it up. “Your face doesn’t bother me, Wade. It’s kind of got a shock factor at first, but it’s not like… what?” He stops, realizing the mercenary is staring at him with wide eyes and a slack mouth.

[hot damn]  
{call the police, call the fireman}

“You’re so pretty…” Wade says, his voice almost too quiet for Peter to hear.

Peter looks at him skeptically. He doesn’t think of himself that way. Sure, he’s not ugly or anything, but he has never been one to dwell on his looks. “Thanks…” he mumbles.

“Oh, you are all too welcome, baby boy.” Wade says, and then whistles. “I mean, I’d imagined… but you’re gorgeous. Look at you! A total ten, an actual ten is sitting here before my eyes. I’m truly blessed.”

Peter flushes and looks down. “You’re still going, huh?”

“Yeah! Of course I am! I mean just look at you!” Wade says excitedly, and then he goes silent. “Either you don’t believe me or I’m making you uncomfortable. Both? Both.”

“A little.” Peter says. “I just don’t think about it, I guess? I’m not that big of a deal.”

“You’re the biggest deal!” Wade says. “Look at me, please?”

Peter looks back up, his brows furrowed. “What?”

“Great and holy fucking- those beautiful hazel eyes… They are hazel, aren’t they?” Wade asks, and Peter nods. “You’re either an angel or the devil, baby. Nobody is that damn good-looking.”

“Okay, I get the idea.” Peter says. “You think I’m hot.”

“No, you _are_ hot.” Wade argues. “It’s not my opinion, it’s a fact.”

“Noted.” Peter says. “Now that that's out of the way… where’s your place?”

 

\---

Wade is _giddy_. He can barely stand still long enough to unlock his door, and Peter is waiting impatiently behind him. When he put the offer out there, he thought for sure he would be laughed at. He thought - no he _knew_ \- that it would be thrown back in his face. He was wrong, and now here he is: about to let Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, aka his idol, into his apartment. If he had know that this was how the night was going to go, he would have tidied up!

“Mi casa es su casa.” Wade says. “I’ll clean up, I swear. I don’t usually worry about it...I never have guests.”

There are empty food containers scattered around, but they are all completely empty. Wade has never been a quitter when it comes to food. “It has a roof and at least four walls.” Peter says. “It’s better than where I’ve been for the past two weeks.”

“That long?” Wade whines. “Baby boy, why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Peter shrugs. “I didn’t know you lived anywhere.” He says. “You’re all over the place. I never knew you had a place to go.”

“Is that the only reason?” Wade asks. “No other reason kept you from asking me if you could stay with me? You would’ve asked otherwise? No concerns about the weapons or the killing or the...everything.”

“You do all that anyway.” Peter says. He looks around, taking it all in. “Tell you what: I can’t afford to pay rent, but I can clean.”

“I already told you, you don’t owe me anything.” Wade says.

“I do, though.” Peter argues. “Just let me get changed and I’ll… take a crack at this…” he gestured vaguely to the whole front room of the apartment. It might be a pretty spacious place when it’s spick and span, even if it is just a studio. Peter will decide what consequences there are to living with Deadpool in a studio apartment later. He can’t bear to think about it right now.

Wade helps him clean, despite Peter repeatedly telling him “no, I’ve got this, go sit down”. Peter can’t help but feel guilty. Wade insists that he owes nothing, but… he does. Plus, he may as well get this mess out of the way before he takes a real, proper shower for the first time in like a week. He stayed over at his aunt’s for one night. He said he was just too tired after dinner to ride back to his place, but it was a lie. 

“Okay.” He says when they have it mostly cleaned up. The floor could use a good scrub, but that’s a task for another day. “Where do you keep your towels? I need to set a new record for my longest shower.”

“Oh.” Wade says.

{he’s gonna get naked in our apartment}  
[i can’t see that going well]  
{he’s gonna be naked where we’ve been naked}  
[that kills it a little]

“Wade?” Peter taps him when he doesn’t respond. “Towels, please. I’ve been wiping down in public restrooms all week.”

“They’re in there.” He points to the only other door in the apartment, which must lead to the bathroom since the other is the front door. “Clean ones are folded. Have at it. I’m gonna take all this garbage down to the chute.”

{maybe put yourself in too}  
[because Peter Parker will be naked if you come back]

 

\---

 

Wade decides not to throw himself down the trash chute. While it is very, very tempting, he can’t pay the rent if he gets stuck down there, and Peter needs him. Spider-Man needs _him_. He still can’t get over that. Nor can he get over the fact that Spider-Man is in his apartment right now, in his bathroom, naked. Hot damn.

Wade can hear the shower running when he gets back. He decides to cook to distract himself, but there isn’t much in the fridge. He should really go grocery shopping and stop just ordering in, but going out is hard most of the time. Besides, it’s not like he has to worry about eating healthy. His body doesn’t give a fuck what toxic, processed crap he puts into it.

{what’s the worst that could happen?}  
[cancer]  
{oh no, anything but that! whatever would we do!?}  
[hurt more, I guess]

Peter, on the other hand, has an at least semi-normal body - he has some mutations that give him abilities, obviously. He needs to eat like a human being and not like a trash compactor. Wade manages to find something to whip together in a casserole. That’s what casserole dishes are for! You put all of your leftover groceries in them so that you don’t waste it. That, and stir fry.

“I didn’t know you cooked.” Peter says when he comes into the kitchen area, and he startles Wade. “Smells good.”

Wade wheezes in response, because Peter doesn’t have a shirt on, or possibly anything on. He’s scared to look lower than what he can see of a towel slung over Peter’s hips. “You’re gonna have to give me CPR.” Wade says. “I think my heart just stopped.”

“What?” Peter asks, half-laughing. “Oh, is it because I’m… Should I put clothes on? Sorry, I didn’t think.”

Wade counts his breaths while Peter rummages in a duffle bag he brought with him for something to wear. He takes them into the bathroom and comes out dressed a few minutes later. “You trying to kill me?” Wade asks when he returns.

“Sorry.” Peter says sheepishly. “I’m glad you asked me to stay with you today and not tomorrow, because this is my last clean shirt.”

“Laundry’s in the basement.” Wade says, his voice still not completely steady. “Nickels are on top of the fridge.”

“The machines take nickels?” Peter asks. “Isn’t that a little...vintage?”

“I like it!” Wade says. “It gives this whole place a little character. I moved in here because it’s such an old place… I like ‘em with a little history.”

“I didn’t know you were into that.” Peter says. “I’m learning a lot about you already, and I’ve been here like...two hours.”

“I don’t feel like I belong in new, pretty, clean buildings.” Wade says, shrugging. “Any decent HOA would kick me out immediately, or not let me rent in the first place.”

Peter peeks into the oven after Wade puts the casserole in. “I kinda feel like that’s their loss at dinner parties.”

“It really is!” Wade says, laughing. “No one’s ever here to try my cooking, and it’s a damn shame.”

“I’m here, and I’m hungry.” Peter says.

 

Another thing that they learn about each other is that neither of them are neat eaters. They may as well have waited to clean the kitchen, because it’s messy again. “That was so good.” Peter says when he’s finished. “What was it?”

“I have no idea.” Wade says. “I haven’t gotten groceries in a while...I just threw some stuff in a dish and went with it. To be honest, I don’t even remember what I put in there. I was too busy thinking about…”

{nude, soaking wet Spider-Man}

Luckily for him, Peter doesn’t seem to hear that last part. “I feel like I need to sleep for a year.” Peter says.

“Why not just go for seventy like Cap?” Wade asks, he gets up to get an extra pillow and blanket for the couch. They’re from his bed, of course, since he never has guests. “I can get you some new stuff that I haven’t used tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to.” Peter says, settling back on the couch. He tries to take the blanket from Wade, but the merc tucks him in instead, which makes Peter giggle. “This is fine.”

“Goodnight, baby boy.” Wade says, and Peter hums in response. He is already drifting off. Wade’s heart pangs, because his spider must be so tired. Rooftop sleeping isn’t good for you, and Wade knows that from personal experience. Concrete ain’t comfortable.


	2. Hunger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning for suicidal ideation.
> 
> Please if you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, seek help! Your problems are not too small or insignificant, I swear. That is a lie told to you by your sick brain. Depression is treatable, and it is real. There is a physical, observable difference between a healthy brain and mentally ill brain. It’s not “all in your head” in the sense that most people mean that. It’s real. Healthy brains rely just as much on those neurochemicals that you’re having trouble producing/producing too much of. It’s about the same, in theory, as a hormonal imbalance. Or malnutrition. Or anemia. You’d go to the doctor for all of those things. Go to a doctor for mental illness. It’s just as real. It’s just as valid. You deserve to feel happiness, and while you may need help to do so, you can feel it.

Wade is admittedly a little nervous about leaving Peter alone at his place for an extended amount of time, but he’s gotta bring in the cash. Most of his bad memory trinkets are in a box in the cabinet under the bathroom sink, which he hopes that Peter will have no need to look into in the first place. He had honestly forgotten it was there until he took a job that would keep him away for a few days.

“Sorry to be running out on you so soon.” Wade says, stuffing ammo boxes into a duffle bag - bigger than the one Peter brought. “But duty calls!”

{butt dooty}  
[please don’t]

“It’s fine.” Peter says. It’s not, really. Wade knows that Peter hates the mercenary work in theory and in practice, it’s just that Wade doesn’t have time for the argument about it. Peter seems to respect that. Plus, he needs Wade to pay the rent, or else he’ll be sleeping on a roof instead of under one again.

“Keep your snooping to a minimum, please.” Wade says at the doorway.

Peter looks a little embarrassed by that request. “I-I’m not- I wasn’t gonna snoop.” He stammers.

“Sure, you weren’t.” Wade winks. The mask is on, but he hopes he gets the point across. Peter crosses his arms and pouts in response. Wade reaches and pinches his cheek, which gets his hand slapped away.

[fair]

“What was that for?” Peter huffs, sounding a little annoyed.

“I still just can’t get over how cute you are.” Wade says honestly. “Well, have a good few days, Petey-pie!” Wade shuts the door before he presses his luck any further.

{smart move, we don’t have any luck}  
[we do, but it’s bad luck]

 

\---

 

Peter goes about his day as usual. He goes to work, then comes...home to change, then goes back out to work at his night job - his favorite job. He notices that it’s very quiet outside of Wade’s bubble, his atmosphere. He enjoys the hell out of it for a while, but it freaks him out after an hour or so. New York is never completely quiet, of course, but it’s just not the same. He gets back in at around three in the morning. Even Wade’s apartment isn’t silent. The walls are paper thin, and it’s right over a subway line. It’s almost like Wade worked really hard to pick the loudest place he could find.

He barely hears the scratching at the window until the cat meows. He goes over and stares at it through the window for a few minutes. It mews again and looks at him with wide, yellow eyes before pawing at the glass with renewed fervor. Peter opens it and a solid black cat bounds into the apartment like it owns the place. “Can I help you?” He asks it.

The cat meows louder, and paces in circles in the kitchen, scratching at one of the cabinets. Peter opens it, and sure enough, there’s a stock of cat food. He dumps a few handfuls on the floor - because he hasn’t gotten to the dishes yet - and watches the cat hungrily gobble it up. It’s purring hard enough that he can hear it even though he isn’t close.

He pulls out his phone and texts Wade. “There’s a cat.”

“Oh yeah! Venus! Plz feed her” Is the response he gets a few seconds later, along with some heart emojis.

“I am” He replies. “Venus? Like the goddess of love?”

“No! She’s a vicious beast but is also really lazy and doesn’t move a lot” Wade replies. “Like a plant!!”

“Venus.” Peter calls to the cat after he lays down on the sofa. The cat makes a mrrrp sound, and in a second, she jumps up onto his chest, purring and bumping her head against the hand he’s holding his phone in. He pets her for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep.

 

\---

 

Early dawn light is filtering through the curtains when Peter wakes up. He groans when he sees that it’s only seven in the morning. A gentle breeze and the sounds of traffic coming into the apartment are a clue that he left the window cracked open when he let the cat in. She is gone, which he assumes is fine, since she clearly isn’t just an indoor cat. He wonders what cats do in their everyday lives as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes.

He has several unread messages from Wade, the last of which reads “have a good night baby boy!” Wade has always used an unnecessary amount of exclamation points. Peter yawns and stretches his whole body before standing up. He has a whole two hours before he has to go to work, and as much as he would love to go back to sleep, he knows that isn’t going to happen. He has had a hard time staying asleep very long since his uncle died, and that’s not about to change now.

Wade, thankfully, owns a coffee maker. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, the effects of caffeine wouldn’t last long enough to bother, in Peter’s opinion. Maybe he just like to pretend he’s normal sometimes. Peter brews two cups and drinks the first all at once, almost the moment it comes out of the machine. It’s hot and mildly scalds his throat - just how he likes it.

He takes the second cup to the couch and loads up netflix on the - he guesses - perpetually on stand-by playstation 4. It takes a few minutes to load, and then Peter remembers what Wade said before he left...to keep the snooping to a minimum. Surely, looking into his netflix watch again list is as minimum as he could get. He thinks that Wade must’ve watched every Ryan Reynolds movie that the service offers. Magic Mike - predictable. The rest are different Barbie movies, which is weird, but doesn’t really surprise him either.

He settles down, wrapping the blanket around himself, and starts Chef’s Table. He hasn’t had netflix in a while, so he doesn’t even remember where he left off. He decides to watch it over from the beginning. When he’s about halfway through an episode and his cup of coffee, he finally feels like a human being again. 

 

\---

 

Peter spends the next few days kind of in a blur. He is still trying to get used to the fact that he is staying in Deadpool’s apartment. When Wade gets home, he is in the process of cleaning all the spoiled food out of the fridge.

“Hey, baby boy.” Wade says. He whistles because Peter is bent over with his head in the fridge, and he has a fine view of that perfectly round bottom. Peter makes a “tsk” sound and shakes his head, but doesn’t bother telling the merc off. Wade is tempted to smack it, but he made a promise to keep his hands to himself.

[only on scout’s honor]  
{SMACK IT}

“Hey.” Peter says. Wade’s chance disappears, because Peter stands up. “There’s not gonna be anything in here when I’m done…”

“Yeah, I know…” He says. “Need to do some shopping, but it’s just… People freak out about a guy in red and black bondage gear in the grocery store, so I have to go without it.”

“And you don’t wanna do that.” Peter finishes his thought for him.

“Exactly. Because then it’s me who freaks out!” Wade says. He tries to blow it off as a joke, ha ha funny, wacky Wade Wilson who can’t even go shopping without his security blanket. Peter just frowns at him sadly, so he leaves the kitchen. He doesn’t want to deal with pity.

Wade strips down to just his boxers, mask, and socks, and falls face first on his bed with a heavy sigh. Peter follows him over and pulls a blanket over him. “You must be tired. Don’t worry about the shopping, I can get it. I got paid yesterday.”

[what is this]  
{affection??? support???}  
[disgusting]

“You don’t gotta…” Wade mumbles from beneath his nest of pillows. “There’s cash in my bag.”

“I said: don’t worry about it.” Peter says with a smile. Then, he disappears from Wade’s view.

Wade dozes in and out of consciousness while Peter is away, so he doesn’t know exactly how long the brunet is gone.

{if he has any sense, he won’t come back}  
[he doesn’t have a choice]  
{that must be awful to have to live here with us}  
[he has to spend most of his day looking at us]  
{and listening to us}  
[one of us, at least]  
{not even the fun ones!}

He doesn’t realize he went back to sleep until he hears banging in the kitchen. He sits bolt upright in bed and Peter turns sheepishly to face him. “Sorry.” The brunet says. “I wanted to have dinner ready when you woke up, but it’s kinda hard to be quiet with pans.”

“Don’t I know it.” Wade says. It takes Peter about twelve seconds to remember Wade’s sexuality, and then he giggles.

“Oh, I see.” Peter says when he composes himself. “It wouldn’t surprise me that you’re loud in bed.”

Wade feels his face heat up. He can’t believe it, he’s actually, honest to god, blushing. He lays back and pulls the blankets tight around himself. He always quips like that, but he never expected Peter to throw back. He never does that as Spider-Man! He always seems annoyed. Wade doesn’t know how to handle this less serious side of his Spidey.

{the only logical course of action is to fuck him}  
[that’s not logical at all]  
{who are you? the logic police?}

Peter sits and slowly picks at his spaghetti alone for about ten minutes before he realizes that Wade isn’t getting out of bed. He frowns, because that just won’t do. Immortal or not, Wade gets hungry. Peter knows he does. He’s heard the mercenary’s stomach growl before. He takes both his plate and the plate he made for the other man and goes to sit cross legged on the bed.

“What’s the matter?” He asks.

Wade peeks out from beneath a mountain of pillows and blankets. “Nothing.” He lies. A lot of things are wrong at this particular moment, starting with his brain and also ending with it.

“You’re always hungry, so don’t lie.” Peter says.

Wade sighs and extracts himself from the comfy nest. “I’m just feelin’ a little…” He mimes putting a gun in his mouth and shooting it with his hand, because he doesn’t know how to say it with words. Peter looks horrified.

“You don’t really do that, do you?” Peter asks, his voice full of concern. The mercenary nods. “Wade…”

“Obviously, I’m not gonna with you here.” Wade says. “I don’t want to traumatize you...so, I’ll just lay here…”

“You need to eat.” Peter says.

“Why bother?” Wade asks. “I’m gonna live either way.”

“Because hunger isn’t a good feeling.” Peter argues. “C’mon, I’m not a bad cook. Please? For me? We can do the Lady and the Tramp thing.”

“You know that ends with a kiss, right?” Wade asks.

“Yeah, but it’s a _Disney_ kiss, so it doesn’t really count.” Peter says. “Besides, it’s fun.”

Wade considers it a moment, but shakes his head. It’s a bad idea, his feelings considered. He doesn’t think he would live through kissing Peter, especially if it meant nothing. Peter frowns again. “Not into it.” He mumbles.

“Since when are you the stick in the mud?” Peter asks. “Okay… what can I do?”

{fuck the sad out}  
[you know that won’t work]  
{it’s worth a shot}  
[we’ve tried that before, it doesn’t work]  
{but we haven’t tried with Petey!}  
[fair point]

“Nothing.” Wade says. “It’ll pass.”

“I’m gonna stay in tonight, if that’s alright with you?” Peter says. “I don’t really wanna leave you alone when you’re down like this.”

Wade nods. Peter tucks him back into his nest and takes the plates away.

 

\---

 

Wade wakes up a few more hours later, after sunset, and sits up in bed. He doesn’t feel better, but he does feel different. He feels alone, so desperately, terribly alone. “Peter?” He calls out, and he hates how pathetic he sounds.

“Mmn?” Peter stands up from his spot on the couch and comes over immediately when beckoned. He yawns and rubs his eyes. “You okay?”

“I can’t believe you’re still here.” Wade says softly.

“Why would I leave?” Peter’s voice is hoarse from sleep, which normally would turn Wade on a little, but he’s preoccupied with sad thoughts instead of sexy ones.

“I don’t know…” Wade says. “Because everyone else does?”

“Hey, I’m right here.” Peter says. He kneels on the bed next to Wade and wraps his arms around the mercenary. Wade melts into his touch and hugs him back tightly. “Even when I get a place of my own, I’m still gonna be there for you. You’re my friend. You can always come to me, you know?”

Wade takes a deep breath to keep himself from weeping. “I don’t mean to be like this… I’m sorry.”

“No one wants to feel what you’re feeling.” Peter says. “You don’t have to apologize.”

“Don’t let go.” Wade says. 

{you’re a fucking train wreck}

“I wasn’t going to.” Peter says, and then yawns again. He maneuvers them so that they’re laying down, but his arms are still around Wade. “We can sleep like this. I don’t mind.”

Any other time, he would mind, because Wade has a history of being a little handsy with him. Tonight, though, the mercenary clearly just needs comfort via touch. Peter can do that, no problem. He knows Wade would never actually do anything to him anyway - and couldn’t, actually, because of Peter’s super strength. It’s just that the friendly groping can get annoying. He doesn’t think that will be an issue right now. Wade hasn’t been himself all day.

“Thank you.” Wade mumbles into his shoulder. God, he needs this. Touch, affection - he’s starving. Peter is right, hunger doesn’t feel good, and food isn’t the only thing human beings get hungry for.


End file.
